Ghosn to lose millions after stepping down

Former Renault head Carlos Ghosn will not be eligible to receive the millions of euros worth of company shares he was granted between 2015 and 2018.

Pol O Gradaigh and Takehiko Kambayashi

Deutsche Presse AgenturFebruary 14, 20195:20am

Detained former auto chief Carlos Ghosn stands to lose shares worth millions of euros after stepping down as head of Renault, the French carmaker has confirmed.

Ghosn will not be eligible to receive the company shares that he was granted between 2015 and 2018 as the majority of his multi-million euro pay packages, a statement from Renault's board says.

The Franco-Brazilian businessman has been detained in Tokyo since November on suspicion of financial misconduct at Japanese carmaker Nissan, which he also headed until being dismissed after his arrest.

Ghosn, 64, resigned as Renault's president and chief executive in January, after his requests for bail were rejected. He has consistently proclaimed his innocence.

Renault's board of directors said on Tuesday that Ghosn's definitive acquisition of the deferred shares and performance shares he had been awarded was conditional upon his "presence within Renault".

The board had unanimously noted that that condition "is not met", it added.

The deferred and performance shares that Ghosn stands to lose made up the best part of his pay packages over the years in question.

According to a company financial document for 2017, his total remuneration for that year was over 7.3 million euros ($A11.6m).

Of that, only 1.64m euros ($A2.61m) was payable immediately and the rest was in deferred shares and performance shares.

The Renault statement came the day before the company is due to announce its financial results for 2018.

Earlier on Wednesday, the senior of the two Japanese lawyers defending Ghosn in proceedings in Tokyo said they had both stepped down.

Motonari Otsuru, a former prosecutor, and his associate, Masato Oshikubo, filed their resignation at the Tokyo District Court, Otsuru said.

However, it was not clear whether they had stepped down voluntarily or had been dismissed by Ghosn.